stephen strasburg had successful tommy johns surgery on his right elbow today. nationals gm mike rizzo said the three-hour procedure went smooth and uneventful. strasburg will remain in the hospital overnight and return home to san diego to immediately begin physical therapy. full recovery is expected to take 12 to 18 months. >>> meanwhile punishment was handed down from major league baseball today for the might engineer morgan center brawl wednesday between the -- nyjer morgan brawl wednesday between the nationals and the marlins. in all nine players and coaches were punished for the incident including doug slayton, third base coach and gnat manager jim riggleman -- gnats manager jim riggleman -- nats manager jim riggleman. >>> 3rd inning no score danny espinoza called up wednesday getting his first major league start and that would be his first major league home run. off to zach duke. the nationals go up 1-0, but it was another rough go for livon hernandez. pedro alvarez smacks this to right center and scoring two. the pirates go up 7-1 and win 8-5. >>> be a s